Public broadcasting reform: debates bogged down in the Senate, Rachida Dati in the left's sights
The reform of public broadcasting is bogged down in the Senate: the left, hostile to the project supported by Rachida Dati, began, on Thursday, July 10, to slow down the examination of this text, targeting the "forced passage" of the minister on the eve of the summer break in parliamentary work.
Repeated suspensions of the session, points of order, motions for preliminary rejection, invective galore... In one afternoon of debates in the upper house, where the atmosphere is usually much more civilized, the senators have barely begun examining the first article of this proposed law, which aims to bring together France Télévisions, Radio France and the INA into a single holding company.
The three left-wing groups have indeed used numerous points of the rules to slow down the debates at second reading. They are outraged that the government hastily placed this text on the Senate agenda after its rejection in the National Assembly.
An acceleration that could allow the executive to calmly consider adopting the text without suspense in the upper house, where it is supported by the right/center majority, or even a definitive adoption in the autumn, after a new passage before the deputies.
"This forced passage does not allow us to examine this text in good conditions," denounced the socialist senator Sylvie Robert. "Public broadcasting has a future. It should not be sacrificed by the government's charade," continued the leader of the communist senators, Cécile Cukierman.
"Equal weapons"In the left's sights: the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, who has taken up the bill of centrist senator Laurent Lafon (UDI) and has been arguing for months for "public broadcasting to fight on equal terms to meet the challenges facing it" , in her words before the senators.
Ms. Dati is already in open conflict with public broadcaster employees who oppose the reform. The dispute escalated after a heated exchange in June on the set of the France 5 program "C à vous" with journalist Patrick Cohen.
"You are attacking me personally, often in a very shameful manner," the minister hammered home to the left on Thursday. "That's one thing, but we are all responsible for the general interest. It's the only fight that must be waged to preserve public broadcasting," she added, before falling silent, speaking only very rarely.
Practice “obstruction”All this took place in a virtually empty chamber, with often fewer than fifty senators present out of 348. The left outnumbered the right, forcing Republicans to systematically request electronic public ballots, which allow them to vote for absentees.
This desertion also allowed the left to obtain an hour's suspension of the session, in the absence of the necessary quorum for a vote. This was followed by multiple technical debates on the Senate's rules, further slowing down the examination. The left also promised to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council if the text were to be adopted.
The right and the center have accused the opposition of "obstruction." "We are marking time," said centrist Annick Billon. "Everything is being done to try to circumvent this debate and avoid it," lamented LR rapporteur Cédric Vial. Representatives of the Senate majority have said they are ready to sit on Friday, and even "perhaps Saturday, Sunday and the following days," to bring the debates to a conclusion, according to Laurent Lafon.
At this stage, Friday is the last day of the extraordinary parliamentary session before the summer recess. But the government has control over the timetable, which it can theoretically extend if it wishes.
The World with AFP
Contribute
Reuse this content
